For the February portion of the 5% Challenge with the Teddy Bears, participants were again given the challenge (aka dare) to write and track our goals for the month.
Here's my goals and updated report: Workout 30 minutes minimum and trac... Read more

My Spark is back! While I'm probably singing to the choir, the SparkPeople Community is one of the most positive and motivating you'll ever encounter! I'm glad to be part of an encouraging group of friends and teams. One of the things I like ... Read more

This is more about a frame of mind we carry in life and how we treat other people than any one beauty secret we may hold tight to. Special thanks to the 5% challenges where my Teddy Bear Team is one of eleven supportive teams that encourage eac... Read more

I have a knack of taking life a little too seriously. Thereís more to life than reaching a goal if you canít have a little fun along the way. I try to make room in my week to do at least three fun things. It's important to slow down and smell... Read more

Iíve professed this here before: I have a love/hate relationship with exercise . . . I like to think I primarily hate it! I donít like to sweat and I donít like to exercise for the sake of exercise. And oh, how I dislike that word hate, so Iíl... Read more

This has been my personal mantra for years. I love food too much to log high-calorie beverages in my nutritional tracker. As it is, when I cook, I cook big. On Christmas Day, a friend and I bulk cook eight different curries (each recipe quadr... Read more

Being generous is my worship and praise to the living God of my faith. Some of that is through my active SparkPeople participation and commitment to my Challenge Teams and SparkFriends. SparkPeople is a great resource for finding the most posi... Read more

Healthy Habit #3: Eating quality freggies (fruits and veggies). The full color of the rainbow should be represented throughout the week to provide the most complete nutritional value. One great strategy I've used in the past is wearing a multi... Read more

Healthy Habit #2: Make God-honoring, SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely) goals.
As I enter Week Two of the Winter 5% Challenge (this week is all about blogging about healthy habits), I want to honor God as I co... Read more

For the next seven days, I am challenging myself Ė thanks to my Winter 5% Challenge leaders -- to share with you some healthy habits that have led to my success:
Healthy Habit #1: Being active in SparkPeople! SparkPeople.com is a great ne... Read more

If only I could blog in smaller segments -- I'll understand if you simply scan this one quickly. Iím happy to be in three challenges: 1) wrapping up Week 8 of 8 in the 5% Fall Challenge with what may be a maintenance weight loss nearing the de... Read more

We have uniquely different journeys while taking control of our health. Lately, I canít seem to shake this tendency to hold deep a mentality where I live to eat (vs eat to live). Will I ever break myself of this mentality? This makes my relat... Read more

My SparkPage is updated with God-honoring goals for faith, family, friends, food, fitness, and fun so allow me to take you to my last week in photos while living the good life and celebrating the one-year anniversary of maintaining my 100-lb wei... Read more

Iím walking a fine line with a good emphasis on quantity of fitness minutes for the Teddy Bear Team while eating a little too often at the high-end of my calorie range. In the month (30 days) since my last blog, the Summer 5% Challenge reminds ... Read more